Daily Local News (West Chester, PA)
POLICE CHIEF RECOGNIZED
City is first municipality in county to have all staff, law enforcement trained in ‘Stewards of Children’ program
COATESVILLE » Coatesville Police Chief Jack Laufer was recognized at a City Council meeting Monday evening for overseeing efforts to train police officers and other city staff in a child abuse prevention program known as “Stewards of Children.” Coatesville is the first municipality in Chester County to have all of its law enforcement officers and staff trained in this program.
Deborah Ryan, county coordinator with the Safe and Healthy Communities Initiative, presented Laufer with a certificate of recognition for his efforts and thanked him as well as Sgt. Rodger Ollis for helping to make sure everyone completed the training.
Ryan said the statistics on childhood sexual abuse are startling, and it’s a prevalent public health problem with long-term, life-altering consequences for victims.
Laufer in turn thanked Ryan for her support in getting everyone trained, and thanked city officers and staff for undertaking the training.
Ryan encouraged council and community members to spread the word about preventing childhood sexual abuse, and communicate with parents and children in order to safeguard children from sexual abuse.
Another local was also lauded at the meeting. In a unanimous vote, council passed a resolution “recognizing resident John Pawlowski for his efforts in beautifying the city and in particular for his vision in acquiring the gazebos and other improvements at the Riverwalk,” a trail in the city located alongside the West Branch Brandywine Creek. No specific plan was revealed about how exactly to recognize Pawlowski, but council members discussed renaming the trail after him or installing a placard at the trail in honor of Pawlowksi and his efforts.
Council plans to rename a street in the city in honor of Civil Rights Movement icon Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Council voted unanimously to pass the first reading of an ordinance renaming the portion of Harmony Street between First Avenue and Third Avenue as “Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard” and amending the official map of the City of Coatesville to reflect this change and name. The name change would need to be approved by the county before it goes into effect.
Upon the advice of City Manager Mike Trio, council voted unanimously to reject bids for two street improvement projects: the First Avenue and Lincoln Highway Redesign; and the Third Avenue Streetscapes. Trio said some of these bids that received by the city were incomplete and priced higher than expected. He said the city could likely get better prices by sending the projects back out to bid.
Council voted unanimously to appoint Joe Hamrick, a former councilman, to the Zoning Hearing Board for the term 20162018. Council also voted unanimously to appoint Ricky Campbell to the Redevelopment Authority for the term 2018-2022, after a motion to appoint Marie Lawson to the same position failed in a 5-2 vote, with Simpson and Council President Linda Lavender-Norris voting yes and all other council members voting no.
Council heard testimony from officials at the Chester County Opportunities Industrialization Corporation (CCOIC) during a continued conditional use hearing.
Joyce Chester, CEO and president of CCOIC, told council the organization is currently based in West Chester, but is seeking to relocate to the Coatesville Area Senior Center’s old building, which is located at 22 N. Fifth Ave. The senior center relocated to 250 E. Harmony St. in September 2016, and its old building is currently vacant.
Chester said CCOIC offers training that leads to employment with programs in teaching English as a second language, GED preparation and certified nursing assistant training. She said classes are offered in the morning and evening, and the organization serves about 600 students per year, with around 30 students on any given day that classes are held.
At a council meeting on April 23, city Solicitor John Carnes said CCOIC’s conditional use application was not in compliance with the city’s zoning ordinance, due to an insufficient number of parking spots.
The old senior center building has a lot that could hold around 10 vehicles, and CCOIC has made an agreement with the nearby New Life in Christ Fellowship church on Fifth Avenue to allow students to park at 20 spots at their parking lot most mornings and nights.
Max O’Keefe, a board member of CCOIC, said that the organization had presented its case to the city’s Zoning Hearing Board, which then granted a variance to CCOIC to allow it to move forward with its conditional use application.
Council voted 5-2 to approve CCOIC’s conditional use application, with several conditions: CCOIC must comply with all testimony presented to the Zoning Hearing Board; CCOIC must advise all of its students in writing to utilize the parking lot at New Life in Christ Fellowship Church; students must leave the building by 9:30 p.m. on any given night; and CCOIC must notify council if anything changes with the parking situation, and it will be CCOIC’s responsibility to resolve any parking issues. Councilman Ed Simpson and Councilwoman C. Arvilla Hunt dissented in the vote; they had each expressed concerns with the fact that CCOIC would not be paying any fee in lieu of to the city as a condition related to parking accommodations.
Council members and Trio discussed issues with the city’s splash pad at the Riverwalk trail. The splash pad was supposed to open on May 28, but it is not currently functioning properly.
Trio said the breakers for the splash pad were working last year but are failing now. He said a third-party inspector had verified that the splash pad would be ready for reactivation, but some of the electrical equipment was the wrong size.
The city had to pay about $55,000 to fix the splash pad last year, after the electrical equipment which had been stored underground was damaged. The electrical equipment was then moved above-ground in an effort to avoid the same problem happening again.
Lavender-Norris said this issue should be legally addressed with the electrician and inspector because all the children who had used the splash pad in the past were potentially in danger, given the faulty equipment.
Carnes said he would take steps to reach out to the appropriate parties to address this urgent matter.